Ficus pumila
The creeping fig is an evergreen root-climbing liana from the warm-temperate and subtropical lowlands of southern China, southern Japan, Korea, Taiwan and northern Indochina. It spends its juvenile phase as a small-leaved mat pressed flat against rocks, walls and tree trunks, and only much later forms woody, large-leaved fruiting branches. It is an easy, forgiving plant that wants steady moisture, moderate humidity and a cool but frost-free winter.
Where it grows wild
A creeping and climbing liana that clings by short adhesive aerial roots to rocks, cliffs, stone walls and tree trunks in lowland forest, forest edges, ravines and coastal hills, and very commonly on walls and embankments around villages and towns. Juvenile shoots hug shaded, damp surfaces; adult shoots stand off the support in brighter light and bear the figs.
Mostly lowland: the GBIF records have a median elevation of 95 m. The 5000 m maximum is an error; the species is a plant of low hills and plains.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.